Wham: Appetite Suppressing Effect of Omega 3 Fatty Acids

Omega 3 fatty acids are now showing some importance to those who are dieting.

A new study shows that obese people receiving supplements of omega-3 fatty acids while following a weight loss program experienced a feeling of fullness. It is clear after this research that those who are on weight loss programs should consider asking their doctor about adding these healthy fatty acids to the daily regimen.

"We show that the long chain omega-3 fatty acids can affect postprandial appetite sensations in volunteers during a period of weight loss induced by energy restriction," wrote lead author Dolores Parra in the journal Appetite, to be published on July 14th.

NutraIngredients reports that additional omega-3 fatty acid studies are being developed to test this theory, by researchers from the University of Navarra (Spain), University of Iceland (Iceland) and University College Cork (Ireland).

In this case, the researchers recruited 232 overweight and obese volunteers with an average age of 31 and randomly assigned them to an energy restricted balanced diet, supplemented with either low (260 mg per day) or high dose (1300 mg per day) omega-3 for eight weeks. The appetite measurements were taken during the last two weeks of the study.

Consumption of the weight loss diet and the high-dose omega-3 led to fewer hunger sensations immediately after the test meals, as well as two hours later. Blood sample analysis also showed that a higher omega-3 concentration, and an improved omega-3 to omega-6 ratio were associated with a higher "feeling of fullness."

"The most important finding of this study is that subjects who eat a dinner rich in long chain omega-3 fatty acids feel less hunger and more full directly after and 2 hours after then their counterparts fed with the low long chain omega-3 fatty acids diet," wrote the authors. This observation indicates that these healthy omega-3 fatty acids modulate hunger signals.

Dave